


The Kingdom of God, The Inheritance of the Saints

by ZygardeKing92



Category: Christian Bible
Genre: Gen, Heaven, Heavenly Rewards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 16:50:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19380802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZygardeKing92/pseuds/ZygardeKing92
Summary: What happiness awaits those who love God, who love the Lord Jesus Christ in the new heavens & the new earth? Read on to find out.





	The Kingdom of God, The Inheritance of the Saints

Firstly, there is the beatific vision: an intuitive, unmediated & unprecedented apprehension of the beauty of God. (Matthew 5:8, Revelation 22:4) The word 'beatific' means 'happy-making.' 

The vision of God will be completely & absolutely transcendent; first, with our glorified physical eyes, we will behold the risen Christ Jesus face to face, beholding in His countenance the countless manifestations of His incomprehensibly & indescribably infinite majesty, holiness, beauty. I can imagine Jesus Christ, as the Almighty Omnipotent God Himself, covered in absolute light of incomprehensibly immeasurable brilliance & intensity (1 Timothy 6:16, 1 John 1:5), with blazing fire of unimaginably infinite proportions of spectacle & majesty, all with God's endlessly immeasurable beauty & handsomeness, & His endlessly infinite majesty & glory that fills our hearts & souls with unadulterated, never-ending joy & delight. We will never tire or grow bored with looking at God, but will always be captivated and enthralled by Him (Psalm 27:4, Isaiah 33:17).

Next we will behold God with the eyes of our soul - there is no more sin, no more of any darkness & evil that clouds & blinds us - our souls are now perfectly holy & are able to have an intellectual view of God with all our faculties & capacities. There is no such thing as seeing God with the bodily eyes, because He is a spirit, and He is invisible (1 Timothy 6:17). To paraphrase what the great theologian Jonathan Edwards said about this, it is a perfect sight. Not that we can instantly know everything there is to know about God (how could we, for God is an absolutely infinite Being) but it shall be perfectly certain without any doubt or even any possibility of doubt. Through the eyes of the glorified souls of the saints, they shall receive an unprecedentedly & ineffably vast, enriching & sophisticated view of God in His Being. It is an indescribable and, to us now, a rather inconceivable manner. But let me try.

We will be able to have truthful knowledge in abundance in how absolutely holy & just, & how immeasurably majestic & powerful God is, and how that is sweetly united with the transcendent & boundlessly infinite love, meekness, kindness & mercy that God is so predisposed to. The beholding of God’s absolutely immeasurable omnipotence will still add to the pleasure, for he reflects that he, who is his friend, and loves him with so great a love, can do all things for him. For the beholding of his boundlessly infinite wisdom, because he thereby knows what is best for him, and knows how so to order things as shall make him most blessed. So the consideration of his eternity and immutability; it will rejoice him to think that his friend and his portion is an eternal and unchangeable friend and portion. The beholding of God’s happiness will increase the joy, to consider that he is so happy, who is so much the object of his love. That love of God, in those who shall see God, will cause them exceedingly to rejoice in the happiness of God. Even the sight of God’s vindictive justice will add to their joy. This justice of God will appear glorious to them, and will make them prize his love. Best of all, the beholding of God's everlasting & absolutely infinite love, expressed in ever more ravishing & endearing manifestations & testimonies of love, greatly increases the pleasure, when we consider that so great & glorious a Being loves us, and is our God & Friend. 

The delight which the sight of God affords to the soul, brings no bitterness with it, there is no disappointment accompanies it, it promises not more than it yields, but on the contrary the pleasure is greater than could be imagined before God was seen. It brings no sting of conscience along with it, it brings no vexing care nor anxiety, it leaves no loathing nor disrelish behind it.  

Jonathan Edwards writes **"They (the saints) have true and infinite riches. They are the possessors and heirs of something real and substantial, and that is worthy to be called by the name of riches. The things they possess are excellent, more precious than gold and than rubies; all the desirable things of this world cannot equal them, and they have enough of it. The riches that they have given them of God are inexhaustible. It is sufficient for them; there is no end of it. They have a fountain of infinite good for their comfort, and contentment, and joy; for God has given himself to them to be their portion, and he is a God of infinite glory. There is glory in him to engage their contemplation for ever and ever, without ever being satiated."**

**"And he is also an infinite fountain of love; for God is love, yea, an ocean of love without shore or bottom! The glorious Son of God is theirs; that lovely one, who was from all eternity God's delight, rejoicing always before him. All his beauty is their portion, and his dying love is theirs, his very heart is theirs, and his glory and happiness in heaven are theirs, so far as their capacity will allow them to partake of it; for he has promised it to them, and has taken possession of it in their name. And the saints are also rich in the principle that is in them. They have inward riches which they carry about with them in their own hearts. They are rich in faith."**

* * *

 

We will have a resurrected, glorified body with an unimaginably vast capacity for joy. (1 Corinthians 15: 42-44) The Bible says you will have a resurrected body far better than anything you knew on earth. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, says that your body will be stronger, fuller, more spiritual, more glorious, and everlasting. Your delight, your knowledge, your intellect, and all your affections will be renewed and restored so that you might enjoy Christ with perfected bodies. Jonathan Edwards states: **"[Our earthly soul] had only a little spark of divine love in it, in heaven shall be, as it were, turned into a bright and ardent flame, like the sun in its fullest brightness, when it has no spot upon it."**

Not only that, we will get to reign with God the Father & with our King & God Jesus Christ! One of His most thrilling promises is that in the new ages, God will grant us all the power, all the authority & all the wisdom & moral excellence to rule & reign over the new heavens and new earth! (Psalm 8: 5-8, Revelation 2: 26-27, Revelation 3:21, Revelation 22:5) The Bible even tells us that we will judge angels! Perhaps not the holy, sinless angels who faithfully serve God, but the devils who served Satan; we will have the amazing privilege of pronouncing judgment on them on the final day!

God will completely heal all of our hurts, losses and sorrows when we get to Heaven. Notice how Revelation 7:17 states that 'God will wipe away every tear from our eyes'. Not just that 'there will be no more tears', but God will personally 'wipe away every tear'. He will personally comfort us and use His sovereign wisdom & infinite power to heal all of our emotional and spiritual hurts and griefs, turning them into reasons for glory and joy! C.S.Lewis, in The Great Divorce, wrote that “both good and evil, when they are full grown, become retrospective. . . . Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory”. In the hands of a God of sovereign grace, our sufferings will give birth to future happiness beyond our wildest dreams. Jesus said our sorrows will turn into joy — not just be followed by joy but transformed into joy (John 16:20). Think of it: for God’s children, what is now pain will ultimately be transfigured into both glory and joy. 

Also, contrary to popular belief, heaven is not the final destination of the saints. To be sure, that is indeed where their souls are going to go once they die, and it is indeed a real place where the risen Christ Jesus currently dwells at the right hand of God. Paul expressed his desire to be with God in Phillippians 1:23 "I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better." Jonathan Edwards describes it as a glorious world, a delightful paradise, a beautiful city where God, His angels and the souls of the departed saints dwell for the time being. And make no mistake, it is a state of exceeding glory & blessedness, where the souls of the saints drink deeply from God's rivers of pleasures, and dwell in Jesus Christ in a state of perfect rest, without disturbance or molestation. 

However, as blessed & bountifully joyful as it is, it is not the final destination. That final destination is the new heavens and the new earth. God's people were not designed to live in an ethereal place; God made no mistake when He created us as physical beings to live in a physical world. That's what the new earth is for - our new home! "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13 NIV). 

Revelation 21:1–4 beautifully portrays what awaits God’s children:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Multiple times in that passage God says he will come down from the present heaven to live with his people on the new earth. The city comes down out of heaven, God’s dwelling place is “with man,” God will “dwell with them,” and “God himself will be with them.” Despite the repetition, most Christians still don’t appear to believe that God’s plan is to bring heaven to earth and dwell here with us forever. Not just for a thousand years in a millennial kingdom on the old earth, but forever on the new earth. Christ is Emmanuel, “God with us,” forever. The incarnation of Jesus was not temporary.

We normally think of our going up to heaven to live with God in his place. That is indeed what happens when we die. But the ultimate promise is that God will come down to live with us in our place, on the new earth. The ultimate heaven will not be “us with God” but God with us (Revelation 21:3).

Will we eat and drink in the resurrection? Scripture couldn’t be more emphatic (Matthew 8:11; Revelation 2:7; 19:9). Jesus said, “People will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29). Isaiah 25:6 says, “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine.” How good a meal will that be? The Lord God Himself is going to be the chef, so you can bet that it will be sumptuous, enriching & delectable beyond anything we can ask or imagine. 

God Himself promised in Revelation 21:5 that He is making all things new. All things, including every single popular residence, city & destination on this earth you can think of. God is not done with this earth; He promises a new earth with a new Jerusalem. Why not a glorified New York City, a new Grand Canyon, a redeemed Niagara Falls & Nairobi National Park? Even new galaxies, new stars, new luminous quasars? For me, personally, I'm looking forward to the redemption & restoration of the Hell Creek Formation during the time of the dinosaurs, where it will filled with majestic, glorified & revised versions of the mighty dinosaurs that walked there eons ago. 

* * *

We will have perfect relationships with all the other saints in Heaven! I have often wondered if somehow I won't be able to have friendships and loving relationships with other saints in Heaven if I'm so fixated on God. However, what I failed to realize is that, in having loving relationships with other saints, I am loving God! Because we express our love for God by obeying His commands gladly and joyfully. And what is the second greatest commandment? "Love your neighbor as yourself." In Heaven, everyone will no longer be hindered by sin, and will be morally perfect and holy. Therefore, they all have the divine grace of God that enables them to obey His commands perfectly. Consequently, I will be able to love my fellow brothers & sisters – love them with infinite abundance, love them sincerely, love them lavishly and generously, love them unconditionally, and they will love me back with the same generosity & sincerity & immense abundance! How amazing is that!

Edwards had these to say, **"It is a comfort to think of that heavenly state where there is fullness of joy, where reigns heavenly, calm, and delightful love without alloy, where there are continually the dearest expressions of this love, where is the enjoyment of the persons loved without ever parting, where those persons who appear so lovely in this world, will really be inexpressibly more lovely, and full of love to us. And how sweetly will the mutual lovers join together, to sing the praises of God and the Lamb!"**

**"How soon do earthly lovers come to an end of their discoveries of each other’s beauty! how soon do they see all that is to be seen! Are they united as near as possible, and have communion as intimate as possible? How soon do they come to the most endearing expressions of love that it is possible to give, so that no new ways can be invented, given, or received! And how happy is that love in which there is an eternal progress in all those things wherein new beauties are continually discovered, and more and more loveliness, and in which we shall for ever increase in beauty ourselves; where we shall be more capable of finding out and giving, and shall receive more and more endearing expressions of love for ever; our union will become more close, and communion more intimate!"**

We will witness the just and righteous judgement of God. One particularly gratifying aspect of Heaven is that we will bear witness to the final judgement that Jesus Christ metes out to those who did not accept the grace of His salvation, and who continually defiled the earth with moral deformity and evils. All who have despised and rejected Jesus, including Satan and his demons, will be stripped bare of all their possessions and revealed for who they are: evil sinners that are absolutely and totally depraved. We, along with all the angels, will bear witness to God condemning sinners to Hell, where they will bear the complete ferocity of God's righteous fury and wrath without compassion or mercy, where they will be punished with inconceivable, immeasurable, never-ending omnipotent destruction, misery, humiliation and damnation. (Revelation 14: 10-11, Romans 9:22, Isaiah 66: 23-24)

Also, instead of God punishing sinners being a cause to question His goodness and love, they are a key reason for worshipping and adoring Him. When we are conformed to the image of Christ, we will also be able to see how loathsome, how infinitely abominable & horrifying & despicable & evil the iniquities, transgressions and sinful corruption of such humans (& Satan) were, and therefore how utterly deserving they are of God's divine wrath. It highlights how passionately and uncompromisingly just & righteous God is all the more, because of how He treats such wicked sinners & devils with such all-consuming fury, indignation & contempt, and how furiously & zealously He exercises His infinitely awful majesty & unfathomably immeasurable omnipotence in punishing & extirpating them, drowning & overwhelming them in the boundless & bottomless inferno ocean of His incomprehensibly powerful, ineffably terrible fire.

Jonathan Edwards describes it this way **"Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the ineffable strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty."**


End file.
